Covid’s Effect On The Homeless Community & Humboldt County’s Reaction

During the pandemic we were all stuck inside, complaining about not being able to socialize, but not everyone had a warm house with food, clothes, and blankets to go back to. The homeless community went through their own struggle of housing, healthcare, and more. The homeless population has always gone through plenty of hardships in life but the global pandemic has made it even harder to live without housing and healthcare. Not only has it been harder to get these necessary things but it has also been taking all the free time of any workers in the medical field. The need for healthcare is increasing as well as the homeless population. Thankfully Humboldt has provided a few resources for them to get better access to their needs.

The medical workers at the open door clinic opened a free healthcare van to the homeless to help them stay healthy in their bad living conditions. During the pandemic these workers have had to increase hours due to the rapidly growing rates of covid yet they still make time for the less fortunate; “It's important to remember that homeless people are just people that have fewer resources; that doesn't make their lives any less valuable.” says Maria Spetzler, a past Open Door Health provider. Today medical workers are working through their own sickness to ensure the health of our community. It should give us a sense of pride to know that the healthcare workers in Humboldt county care so much about every single person no matter their living conditions.

Hotels have also opened up to provide the homeless with a sheltered warm place to live. They even had healthcare workers come to them to do checkups and doctor appointments at the hotel. Two hotels opened up. The first one was a temporary arrangement for those who have tested positive for covid so they don't spread it to other people on the street; They have a safe place to isolate themselves and stay healthy. The second place is a more permanent situation, where they move into the hotel and live there until they can find another home.“It's important that the Homeless have access to things the rest of us can take for granted. Their medical needs are frequently simple things like wound care and lice treatment, and their human needs are things like access to showers and dry clothing”(Maria Spetzler). The homeless community has many unseen challenges that affect their ability to maintain housing or food security; these challenges include but are not limited to physical disabilities like amputations to mental disabilities such as schizophrenia, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One study showed 80% of chronically homeless men have TBIs. There are also many newly homeless due to the outbreak of Covid 19. As prices continue to increase it becomes more and more difficult for families and people on the edge of poverty to maintain stable housing.

Another very influential person/foundation is Betty Chinn’s who has helped provide temporary houses and food for the homeless families till they can get back on their feet. When you go to the Betty Chinn Homeless Foundation Website their mission statement is “To honor all of humanity by providing direct responses to immediate needs and helping the homeless achieve the dignity needed to return to society as contributing members.” In 2016 she opened a family shelter which kept growing and Even through the pandemic her organization has kept running, however, a local news article states that “Chinn said the pandemic not only has caused an increase of women coming to her shelters but the condition of the women and children needing her resources are continuing to get worse.” This is not just a problem in Humboldt county but all over the world. Conditions are getting worse through covid and there is only so much we can do. Before the pandemic a statistic from 2015 shows 1,319 homeless people in Humboldt and by 2020 there were 1,473 and all 3 of Betty Chinn's shelters were full.

Next time you are driving around Humboldt county look how many people are on the street, in tents, or on a bench. Think about what you can do to help. Our community has a very high homeless population and no one group or organization can make it go away no matter how big of a difference they make. Humboldt has always been a place with a lot of homeless but at least some of our community is trying to make a difference especially during the global pandemic were people who used to have a stable life and income are struggling, this is a reality check to what the homeless are going through every single day.